<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<oembed>
  <version>1</version>
  <type>rich</type>
  <provider_name>Libsyn</provider_name>
  <provider_url>https://www.libsyn.com</provider_url>
  <height>90</height>
  <width>600</width>
  <title>Episode 154 - Dawn Chalker - Writing What You Know</title>
  <description>Episode 154 - Dawn Chalker - Writing What You Know &amp;amp;nbsp; Dawn Chalker wrote her first novel in fifth grade, finding inspiration from real life. That curiosity, creativity and imagination has continued throughout her life, drawing stories from journeys in nature. The northern Michigan-based writer based her recent novel,  Bear Me in Mind, on a real-life encounter with a bear in Alaska and also her love for British detective shows. She also writes children’s books. &amp;amp;nbsp; In the latest episode of the Make Meaning Podcast, host Lynne Golodner interviews Dawn about the joys of writing, the importance of writing what you know, her publishing choices, and how she promotes her books. &amp;amp;nbsp; In this episode, Lynne and Dawn discuss:&amp;amp;nbsp;   Writing a first novel in fifth grade before YA was a genre   Writing as mindfulness   Finding inspiration for books and diving into research to build a story   Writing what you know and doing research   Basing characters on people   Finding the best beta readers   Respecting the writer and understanding their goals   The importance of doing your own book marketing    Being more creative when writing by hand   &amp;amp;nbsp; Links and Resources:&amp;amp;nbsp;   Hepatica Books    Mendenhall Glacier   Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators   Amazon KDP   IngramSpark   The Nature Conservancy   Grass River Conservancy    Author Brand Marketing Mastermind    Where’s the Vacation?    Bear Me In Mind    Northwestern Michigan College   Leelanau Peninsula   Michigan Writers   Traverse City Area District Library   &amp;amp;nbsp; Find Dawn Chalker: Website LinkedIn &amp;amp;nbsp; If you enjoyed this episode, you’ll like these other  Make Meaning Podcast episodes: Episode 138 – Sara Bennett Wealer – Connecting with YA Readers Episode 129 – Rosina Lippi – Author of the Wilderness Series Episode 122 – Valoree Gagnon &amp;amp;amp; Karena Schmidt – On the Food &amp;amp;amp; Culture of Indigenous Gardens Episode 105 – Helen Taylor &amp;amp;amp; Gina Nicholas – How to Really Protect the Environment by Being a True Part of it Episode 49 – Dennis van Englesdorp, Nicole Lindsey &amp;amp;amp; DeAndra LeMelle – Saving the Bees &amp;amp;nbsp; </description>
  <author_name>The Make Meaning Podcast</author_name>
  <author_url>https://makemeaning.org</author_url>
  <html>&lt;iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/27747897/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</html>
  <thumbnail_url>https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/158059878</thumbnail_url>
</oembed>
